Wolf's Honor
by PrinceKael14
Summary: How would you pay for justice? By tooth or nail? Would you pay in blood? The wolf runs the trails, seeking the justice for his clan, his life, his curse. Banehollow Ambry hunts, and he will find.
1. Strange Friends

I was seven years old. Father had just started a meeting with his friends in the family hall, so I was stuck in my room, to read my books and learn how to be the Ambry line's heir in the kingdom of Slom. Absolutely boring. I was the youngest in line, why did I have to train for it if my elder brother Drisbane would be house patriarch till I was 60?

I looked out my window, where the full moon lit up the night sky. I sighed, wishing I could go outside, but Father said it was too dangerous now. I couldn't see why not. If the King had a problem, why did it have to interrupt my play time? Oh well, I guessed I was safe in my room anyway, even if I couldn't play with my Ambry cousins.

"Don't be screamin' now," a young girl wearing a simple tunic, jerkin, and a coil of rope chirped with her Scottish accent as she held a knife to my neck. She was perched on the left of my window sill, and I was so busy looking at the moon, I didn't see her. I didn't scream. I held my hands up.

"How'd you get up here?" I asked her. I couldn't help being impressed. She must have gotten past the guards at the gate, at least. "How'd you scale the wall?"

She shrugged, smiling, as she flipped her silvery hair. Her purple eyes looked right into mine, and she said, "A girl has her ways. Now, your money, and any valuable trinkets you have."

I smiled back and shrugged too. "You think a seven year old kid would have money? And I don't have jewels. If you want, you can have my wooden sword though."

She looked disappointed. "They told me the Ambry line was rich!"

"Maybe you're just stupid," I teased. "We are, but the money obviously wouldn't be with a kid."

"Ah! I know how ta get the money!" she brightened up, and jumped into my room, getting behind me and holding me in a grapple, the knife pressed to my neck. "'I'm sure they'd pay handsomely for the youngest heir to the Ambry line."

"H-hey," I said nervously as she cheerfully dragged me down the hall to where the meeting was. "You sure?"

She laughed, and it was a cute laugh, short, but very amused. I liked it. "You're cute...what's your name? Ambry?"

"Banehallow," I volunteered. "Banehallow Ambry. You know, if you're just a creative thief who's desperate and hungry, I could just bring you food. It's not like I'm starving."

She snorted derisively. "Food? I have problems with tha' sometimes, but mostly it's about the money. I wanna raise an army. Be queen. Rule. Queen Luna. That's me."

"You're dreaming awfully big for a seven year old," I commented.

"Like you're not, noble," she smirked as we stopped in front of the meeting hall. "Go on, knock."

Before I could knock, shouting echoed from inside the room, and she pulled me into a corner, a small alcove, hiding. She looked scared, as if she'd heard something I didn't. A second after, the door burst open, and a catlike humanoid, the size of an adult man, followed by a smaller one, fled the room, their feet carrying them fast away from the hall. He wore simple garments, but his belt carried odd bottles, and viciously sharp shurikens. The younger one carried similar things, but he also carried a blade. Guards poured from the hall, and so did many nobles, my father included, in hot pursuit with swords. We were totally ignored.

She was breathing hard, and her eyes looked wild. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Soruq..." was all she said, as she shook with fear and dropped her knife. I picked it up, and she didn't even seem scared of that as she left the alcove and ran as fast as she could towards my room. I followed her, and she locked the door and window after I came in, the panic evident in her face.

"Luna, what's going on?" I demanded as she tried to hide in the closet, but found she was too big.

"You've never heard of him?" she asked incredulously.

"Obviously!"

"He's a bounty hunter. He's legendary, and terrifying. It's said he will kill ANYONE for the right price, and tha' no one could stop him. They say by the time you realize he's there, it's too late. His target is dead. Someone put a price on the head of one of the nobles in that room."

"Good thing it wasn't my dad."

She nodded her agreement.

"But why are you so scared? Wouldn't he target important people, like kings, and generals?"

"I'm scared because he's generally indiscriminating," she shivered involuntarily. "If you're in his way, he will kill you."

"Well, it doesn't look like you're getting your money tonight," I sighed. "They'll have locked down the estate trying to catch him."

"They won't," she promised. "He'll be halfway to his client by now."

"Who was the smaller one he was with?"

"They're just rumors, but I heard he took an apprentice. Adopted the child like his own. Apparently, he runs bounty hunts with his master now."

"Anyway, it looks like you're stuck here tonight," I pointed out the window, looking down. Guards traveled in squads of three, their eyes looking left and right, jabbing into bushes with their spears at random. Luna sighed and sank against the wall, folding her arms and getting ready to sleep.

"This heist was a disaster," she muttered distastefully. "I got nothing."

"Nothing? How about a new friend?" I smiled as I threw her a pillow and a blanket, and pulled the covers up, then blew the candle out, wondering if she knew I saw the look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Thanks for saving me, Luna."


	2. The King's Folly

**A/N and Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except some OCs (Eltheon, Lords Ingeitos and Orochnia, etc.), the rest are owned by Valve. Hero stories like this may be requested in reviews. Enjoy! ^w^**

Five years passed. I never saw hide nor hair of Luna again. She was gone when I woke up the next morning, but she left me a little necklace, with a moon on it. I smiled, happy to have made a friend outside the family, but sad that I'd probably never see her again, even if she did nearly rob and kill me. I wore the necklace since.

Lately though, I've been hearing talk of revolts around the estate. More guards have been walking the halls, and I've seen Father hiring thousands of mercenaries with the Ambry wealth. I asked the servants, worried, and they told me that the king was corrupt, that the kingdom was failing, and that many nobles agreed with him. Many of my elder brothers and cousins were joining the six-thousand swords Father was going to send.

I could not argue with that. The kingdom was failing. The poor on the streets had doubled, and there was talk of charlatans, and scoundrels of magic replacing the officials in the king's court.

"Father, are you sure?" I persistently asked him. "The king could be stronger than you think."

"Fear not, Bane," Father reassured me. "Our six-thousand swords are not alone. House Ingeitos and Orochnia have pledged their support with thousands more. Slom will be ours, and that fool of a king will fall."

I accepted that, and awaited that fateful day, a week later, when they would lay siege to the capital city of Slom in a vicious coup d'etat at midnight for the castle. Sounds of battle raged, their low bass horn bellowing with our own powerful brass horn as screams rent the air, and metal clanged against metal. I waited with the family in the living room, listening with baited breath for the end. My father seemed to be upset, as if something was bothering him, a feeling he had, but that he knew it shouldn't.

Suddenly, the sounds of battle died. We saw nothing outside the window, except a city on fire. My father, with fumbling hands, fixed a message to a pigeon, sending it out the window to ask for a status report on the battle. An hour later, the pigeon returned, with a message scrawled that our troops had won, and were sieging the castle as we read it.

The family cheered, and so did I. Finally, a rule fit for the grand kingdom we called home! We all went to bed cheerily, our thoughts fixed on a grand victory parade and feast tomorrow, in honor of the rebirth of Slom. I closed my eyes and dreamed...

_"Lost in the woods, are ya?" Luna chided me as I chased her through the thick forest._

_ "Wait!" I laughed as I leapt over a few roots, intent on catching her._

_ "Gotcha!" I cried as I tackled her and she went "Oomph!" as we fell into a grassy plain. We laughed together, and we lay down, watching the clouds. I took her hand, and she rather bashfully took mine. I looked at her, and she smiled as she looked at me too._

_ "I wanna take you somewhere..." she said, shyly twirling a lock of her smooth, silvery hair._

_ "Where?" I chided her, poking her on the nose._

_ Suddenly, her face went sour, and her voice changed to a man's, her grip becoming much too tight as I struggled to free myself from her vice-like grasp. "You're coming with me, brat!"_

I awoke with a start, to see a Slom soldier grasping my wrist, his armor awash with the orange light of fire in the hallways. I yelled, and tried to fight, trying to break his grasp and kick him futilely in his armored shins.

I could hear my family screaming in the other rooms, and the sickening sound of blood splattering the walls as they were murdered. It was all I could hear in the darkness that the soldier induced by knocking me out with his gauntleted fist.

I awoke to hear a sound not much better: the king's laughter. Rage burned in me. He murdered my family, and he dares laugh?! I struggled against the chains that bound my neck, hands and feet to the floor of the king's court, full of stupid-looking clowns, and idiots playing at wise men and magical sages.

Despite his laughter, the old, and crazed-looking king of Slom looked enraged. No doubt it was because of the rebellion, and the thousands of swords sent to sever his neck from his body. I looked to my right, and saw my father, disbelieving that he was chained to the floor, that he lost. The marble floor shone beneath us, ornate, and the court was huge, beautifully crafted by the kingdom's best architects. The walls were studded with jewels, and the walls of smoothest alabaster.

"Really, Lord Ambry," the king sneered as his court of fools jeered. "You thought to take the capital with six-thousand swords against my ten-thousand? I thought you more cunning."

"I don't understand, Father," I said desperately. "They said we'd won."

"Little effort to forge a letter and signature with magic, foolish boy!" the king jeered as his court laughed themselves to death.

"Impossible..." Father muttered, his eyes flicking left and right, obviously thinking hard. "Unless..."

"He paid us too well, my friend," the traitorous Lords Ingeitos and Orochnia smiled from the jury's benches. "Your sixteen-thousand was missing a _teensy _bit, wasn't it?"

"Fools!" Father bellowed, and it scared me how angry and unhinged he looked. "Do you realize what you've done to this kingdom?!"

"Billions in gold, Lord Ambry," the king smiled cruelly as he laced his fingers. "Amazing what money can do to loyalty...and heads. How is your brother, Lord Ambry?"

Father was silent for a while, but I could feel his rage, hear his chains shaking, and I felt the same. "You... You sent Soruq... You murdered Eltheon..."

The king's laughter sent my blood boiling as I put the pieces together. Lord Orochnia and Lord Ingeitos were spying on us. They let Soruq in, and probably left him a way out. Uncle Eltheon was rich, and a major bankroll for the swords we hired. But why Eltheon? Why not my father, the mastermind of the rebellion?

"We did tell you that maybe it was a sign that the king knew and we shouldn't rebel," Lord Ingeitos waggled his finger at Father, as if he were a naughty child being disciplined.

"Why him?" my father demanded. "He needn't have died. I was the leader."

"I wanted to see if you were as cunning as they said, if you had the brains to put it together," the king shrugged, as if Eltheon's death was of no consequence. "Evidently, you're just stubborn. In any case, you were easily interchangeable. He could be where you are now if Soruq had killed you."

My father just stayed silent, his eyes hollow. The king rose, his demeanor that of an executioner who the criminal had personally wronged. His face enraged, he pointed to his sorcerous charlatans, and declared, "Change the boy into a wolf."

A sorcerer with a mischievous face stepped forward gleefully. "Whatever for, m'lord?"

"Do this," he said, with a cruel sneer on his lips as he glared at us. "So Lord Ambry will understand the bite of betrayal."

The magician laughed maniacally as strange energies began to fill the air, all circling above me. Fear, hatred, and rage mixed like acidic poison in my gut. He meant to turn me into a beast so I'd kill Father! I had known the king must be cruel, but this...this was inhuman!

"Bane," my father called to me, his voice desperate, his eyes hollow as his tears spilled. "Forgive me, my son. I'm so sorry I brought this upon us..."

"It's alright, Father," I whispered, as the energies descended on me. "Long live the Ambry!" I yelled in pain as the magic contorted my body, freeing me from the chains, but forcing my body into a smaller form, my human voice changing into a howl as fur grew all over me, and my hands became paws...

When the lights died, I rose blearily on my...paws? I looked down at where my hands and feet were, and paws were there instead, sharp claws pointing from them. I stood on all fours, a beast as large as a man, and my ears twitched left and right as I heard so much more than the court alone. Red and black fur, colored like my clothes, covered my body entirely. Instead of teeth, sharp fangs filled my mouth as I panted, unable to sweat. I howled in sorrow, as the king's magicians cackled evilly.

He pointed to Father, laughing. "Now, slay him, my pet!"

It dawned on me that I could still understand him. I wasn't totally lost to the curse! I was still Banehallow Ambry. The magicians' curse was strong, but even as they changed my form completely, they were not strong enough to expel my spirit. Just as one could expect from charlatans: half-baked work. I thought as I did, and most especially, felt as I did. And I was furious. Sanguine vengeance was at hand, and so quickly too.

I let out a savage roar and pounced on the unwary magicians, whose eyes bulged as they screamed. A wolf, much larger than they were, fell upon them, claws tearing into chests, and teeth into necks, their terrified screams turning to pathetic gurgles as I easily ended their lives.

"Magicians! Guards! Stop him!" the king of Slom's terrified voice screamed from his throne as a dozen knights, Slom's finest, drew blades. The magicians desperately cast, but found their original enchantment too strong to remove without their comrades, who I just murdered.

""Fools!" the king wailed. "Have you no offensive magic to slay him with?"

"We know no such sorcery, my king!" the second-in-command pleaded. "Forgive us!"

"Guards! Attack!"

Slom's knights yelled their battle-cry, and charged me. I roared back, and slew one of them instantly by pouncing him, fangs tearing into his neck like knives through veal. Another slashed my hind leg, and I yelped in pain, roaring as I turned to slice my claws straight through his leg, then took off his head in vengeance.

I darted quickly between their legs, bowling them over from my size and weight. On the ground, five of them were wearing plate armor too heavy to rise from. They met their ends quickly, as my claws found their faces, and my teeth their neck. The few more skilled rose, their armor not so heavy, and put a few stabs into me as slew their comrades, but I was enraged. Bloodthirsty. Furiously, I slew two more of them, too foolish to back away. Only three remained, and despite their skill, I saw the fear in their eyes. One of them took a step back, and another followed.

"Cowards!" the king roared from his throne as he drew his own blade. "Tis just a boy in the body of a beast! Have you never hunted wolves before? Strike him down!"

I could hear Father laughing, but I dared not turn to face him, lest they take the opening. One of them yelled, "For the king!" and charged, and feinted to the left. My claw missed, and I whimpered as he sank his blade into my left side.

"Ha!" he withdrew for another attack, but I pounced forward, enraged at his audacity, and sank my claws into his eyes. He screamed as blood poured from his ruined sockets, and fell silent as my other paw crushed his throat. The two remaining started to back away in earnest, and I knew: they were trained to fight men, not beasts. They were taught to recognize patterns of attack, not reflexive swinging. Nevertheless, they charged together, hoping to end me, but I crushed their hopes when I pounced, my weight falling on their thin chain mail, and flattening their lungs.

My enraged yellow eyes turned on the king, as a feral growl escaped my throat. He hid behind his throne, his sword arm poking out from one side as if it would discourage me from spilling his blood. The door to the court burst with soldiers; one of the smarter charlatans must have summoned the guards. Scores of them spilled in, and while they were not Slomian knights, I could not hope to slay thousands of them alone, not even with my new power. I fixed the king one last look of pure hatred, and rage. _Another time._

I turned to my father, my eyes desperate. I could carry him, but I'd sustained heavy wounds, and could barely run fast enough to escape them already. I couldn't save him...

"Go," he said, coughing, but smiling genuinely; the first time I really saw him smile since he set the coup in motion. "I'm proud of you, Bane. We all are. House Ambry's glory and pride shall live in you."

I howled a final, sorrowful farewell to my father before I took off towards the guards at the door as fast as I could, then jumped high, cleaving a majestic arc right over them and into the hallway. I sprinted through the halls, intent on leaving, and getting as far as possible before Soruq and his apprentice could track me, but I could still hear and smell as far as the court.

The metallic swoosh of the king's sword sliced through the air, and the king's angry yell was nearly deafening as his steps stalked towards my father's scent.

My father laughed, and spit in the king's direction. I was nearly out of earshot...

_"Long live the Ambry."_

The sound of metal going through flesh rent my heart, and the scent of blood filled the air.


	3. Kindred

I panted heavily as my paws beat on the pavement, still etched with blood from the fight between the Ambry mercenaries and Slomian soldiers. I sprinted through narrow streets, shocking many civilians as I raced past them, some of my own droplets of blood falling behind me. Battle horns sounded behind me as warriors yelled, and the howls of wolves marked the beginning of a hunt. I'd hunted with my father before, but never appreciated quite how terrifying it was to be the prey, my head marked for a spot over the mantel.

I pushed my muscles faster, desperately racing for the gate, which creaked as it started to lower. Then, it suddenly stopped lowering, and I had a glimmer of hope. Then my hope was throttled by fear as I realized the gate's guards had taken up bows and arrows, when they realized I was going to make it. Besides, they couldn't afford to hold up the hunters.

I darted left and right as soon as I came to the gate, arrows barely missing me as I strove to dodge them. One archer got a lucky shot in, an arrowhead sinking into my hind leg. I yelped, my pain increasing as I fought to escape. I was almost at the forest, out of bow range, but my heart sank as I heard the sound of warriors, battle horns, and hounds filled my ears. The hunters were still far away, still deep in the city, but the wolves had run ahead, dozens of them, presumably to slay me, or hold me down until the hunters got there. My wounds were too much to handle for this. I was too slow now, too tired, and easy prey for the hunters. The archer had done his job. I was going to die.

As the wolves closed, I closed my eyes, panting, savoring my last breaths. Yet as they drew nearer, I heard voices in my head, gruff, grim, but loyal. _Forgive us, brother._

Desperately, I sought to speak with it. Perhaps whoever it was could help me. _Brother? Who are you?_

_ We are in front of you. I am Lupo. _I opened my eyes, and I was surrounded by growling wolves. I had read much of wolves, and I knew that a wounded wolf, especially a lone one, was as good as dead. _A kindred canine, one so majestic. I would almost say they've gone too far this time._

_You...wish not to slay me?_

_ Aye. Yet we must, or we shall suffer of the king. _One stepped forward, the obvious leader of their pack. He was bigger, stronger, much meaner in looks than the others, but his voice seemed to be sympathetic under all the gruff.

_ I will slay him, but I cannot do that if I'm dead._

He snorted, and his laugh echoed in my head. _You? You are in no condition to slay the king of Slom. You cannot even slay us._

_ Yet you hesitate, you've not slain me. I needn't slay you, nor you me. I will do it, but I need your help. _Our voices echoed in my head. I could talk to dogs now. That seemed like a very amusing power, despite the fact the Reaper himself loomed over me.

_What do you suggest? _Lupo laughed again, amused at my naivety. _Why should I listen to you anyway?_

_ I am Banehallow Ambry, the alpha wolf. _I growled threateningly. _You wouldn't dare take me alone._

The other wolves howled their assent, many barking as they dared their leader to take that lying down. Lupo growled, and I knew he accepted my challenge. The others cleared a circle as I rose to my feet, panting as I fought the nausea and weariness from my wounds.

Lupo charged, his teeth aimed for my neck. I rose, and struck him across the face with a claw, but I dared not slay him, though I could have; it was a test of skill and power, a duel between leaders for supremacy, not death. Loss, though, would change that.

He rallied again, and I leapt to the side, my muscles screaming, but I kept my composure. I couldn't afford to show weakness. I taunted him, _What's wrong, Lupo? Can't put me down?_

_ Shut up! _He growled as he raked a claw into one of my wounds, and I grit my teeth as I savaged his snout with my own claw, and followed up with another into his side. He fell back, staggering, panting as he knelt in concession. _A worthy foe, and a worthy lord. We hear your word, Lord Ambry._

I'd started forming the plan the moment I'd goaded him into a fight. The guards left the gates, and started to run for us, so I had to make a decision, quick. _Quickly! Most of you, flee! A few of you brave others, delay the guards._

_ I will. Lupa, come! _He barked to a female wolf, his mate, who whimpered for him worriedly. _But Lupo–_

_ Silence. I cannot escape like this. The rest of you, head for other cities. Blend in. You may live your own lives now. _If a dog could smile without wagging tail, they would have, though most of them did wag anyway. _Lupa, stay and protect Lord Ambry. He must live. Worry not for me. My spirit will live on, and I will not abandon you..._

_ I love you... _She howled sorrowfully, a sound that wrenched my heart, as I realized he would die because of me, for me. I caused this pain...but more would come, and worse, if I gave up and died.

_Quickly! _She whispered to me, as a crowd of them surrounded us. _Stay low, blend in with us as we run into the forest. Then they'll separate from us. Their destiny lies not with us._

A dozen of the wolves, bigger than most, including Lupo charged the soldiers, who yelled in confusion before turning their blades on the treacherous wolves. Surprisingly, they slew a number of men before the last of the brave dogs fell, and it took them too much time to look back to where we were.

By then, we were deep into the forest, just Lupa and I, as Lupo's pained death howl echoed over the canopy.


End file.
